Dama

Dama was the son of King Nariṣyanta and his queen Indrasenā, the daughter of Babhru. Born after spending nine years in his mother’s womb, he was named Dama by the purohitas because his mother had to adopt indriya-nigraha during the pregnancy, and they foresaw that the prince himself would be of dama-śīla. A master of the dhanurveda, astra-vidyās, vedas, vedāṅgas, and yoga-vidyā, Dama won the hand of Sumana at her svayaṃvara and defended his claim in battle against rival princes. His reign was later marked by the tragic murder of his father Nariṣyanta at the hands of the vengeful Vapuṣmān, and the subsequent war in which Dama fulfilled his mother’s final command and his own pratijñā by slaying the perpetrator.

Birth and Naming

Dama was born from the womb of Indrasenā, the daughter of Babhru, through Nariṣyanta. This mahā-yaśasvī prince resided in his mother’s womb for nine years. While the prince was in the womb, his mother had to adopt indriya-nigraha. Thinking that this rājaputra himself would be of dama-śīla, the purohitas, who were knowers of the three times, gave the name Dama to the son of Nariṣyanta. He was described as one who subdues enemies of evil conduct, possessing strength equal to Indra and compassion and conduct equal to the munis.

Education and Mastery of Vidyās

The rājaputra Dama acquired the dhanurveda-vidyās completely from Vṛṣaparva, the king of asuras. From Duṃdubhi, the superior daitya residing in the tapovana, he acquired all the astra-prayogas along with their saṃhāra. He acquired the complete vedas and vedāṅgas from the muni named Śakti, and the yoga-vidyā from Arṣiṣeṇa.

The Svayaṃvara of Sumana

Sumana, the daughter of Cāruvarma, the mahābala ruler of Daśārṇa, was appointed by her father in a svayaṃvara. Before all the kings who had come, she chose the mahātma Dama, who was mahābala and a knower of astras, as her husband according to her own desire. Two other rājaputras were full of affection for Sumana: Mahānanda, the son of the Madra King and a mahā-bala-parākramī, and Vapuṣmān, the son of the Vidarbha King Saṃkrandana, a rājaputra of great bow and noble mind.

But the rājakanyā chose Dama, the subduer of evil enemies. Seeing this, Mahānanda and Vapuṣmān, deluded by the arrows of Kāma, consulted among themselves. They resolved to seize the beautiful kanyā from Dama by force and take her to their home, where she would choose one of them according to the svayaṃvara-vidhāna. And if she did not choose any of them according to her own desire, she would belong to whoever among them slew Dama. The three rājaputras then seized Sumana from the side of Dama.

The Debate on Dharma

Many kings on Dama’s side reproached the attackers. Some other kings became angry, and others adopted a neutral position. Seeing those kings situated on all four sides, Dama, with an unagitated mind, addressed them. He asked in what dharma-kṛtyas a svayaṃvara is counted, whether it is dharma or adharma. He declared that they had seized the kanyā obtained in the svayaṃvara by force, and that if they considered the svayaṃvara to be adharma, he had nothing to do with it and she would be the wife of another. But if they resolved that the svayaṃvara is dharma, he asked what was the need for bearing lives marked by the insult of the enemy.

Cāruvarma, the King of Daśārṇa, silenced the assembly and asked the kings to speak regarding the matter of dharma and adharma, by which neither his dharma nor Dama’s dharma would be lost. Many kings then spoke, declaring that through mutual affection, the gāndharva-vivāha is accomplished and that this vivāha is excellent for kṣatriyas. They said that Sumana’s gāndharva-vivāha with Dama was accomplished, and that whoever opposed this vidhi was acting out of moha, being attached to desire.

The kings on the opposing side argued that the gāndharva-vivāha is not praised for kṣatriyas, and that for kṣatriyas only the rākṣasa-vivāha is praised. They declared that the man who destroys the opposing side and seizes the kanyā by force according to the rākṣasa-vivāha-vidhāna is the rightful husband, and that since rākṣasa-vivāha is always primary among the two vivāhas for kṣatriyas, Mahānanda and the other rājaputras had performed a dharma deed.

The first group of kings spoke again, acknowledging that rākṣasa-vivāha is praised for kṣatriyas and is a superior vidhi. However, they pointed out that while the rājakanyā was under her father’s authority in her youth, she chose Dama. Defeating the father’s side and seizing the kanyā is called rākṣasa-vivāha, but seizing a kanyā from the hand of the husband is not rākṣasa-vivāha. When Sumana chose Dama before all the kings, the vivāha was accomplished by the gāndharva method. A married kanyā does not have kanyātva. The maiden-relationship is known only through vivāha. Those aiming to seize her by force from the hand of Dama, even if out of pride in their strength, were not performing a good deed.

Dama’s Challenge and the Battle at the Svayaṃvara

Dama, hearing this matter, with eyes red from krodha, made the twang of the bow and declared that if a strong one seizes his bhāryā by force while he is looking, he would be born as a eunuch. He said reproach to his astras, śaurya, arrows, and bow, and reproach to his birth in the lineage of the mahātma King Marutta, if a fool endowed with strength seizes his wife while he is alive, for then his manuṣyatva would be in vain.

He then addressed all the kings including Mahānanda, declaring that the kanyā was extremely beautiful, born of a good lineage, and a maiden, and that the birth of one to whom she is not a wife is in vain. He urged them all to make an effort in yuddha, and that whichever of them could defeat him and take her as a wife should do so.

Dama then covered the kings with a rain of arrows, just as darkness covers the trees. All those kings cast arrows, śaktis, yaṣṭis, and mudgaras, but Dama cut all those astras effortlessly. The group of kings cut the astras cast by Dama, and Dama in turn cut all their astra-groups.

While such a yuddha was occurring, Mahānanda approached Dama with a sword in hand. Dama, seeing him coming in the mahā-yuddha-raṅga, showered a rain of arrows just as Indra showers water. Mahānanda cut the astra-groups and arrow-networks with his sword, through hasta-lāghava doing so quickly in a manner no other kings could match. The mahāvīrya Mahānanda, out of krodha, leaped onto Dama’s ratha and began to fight. After they fought for a long time, Dama, with hasta-lāghava, discharged an arrow at Mahānanda’s heart which was equal to kālāgni and full of tejas.

Mahānanda himself pulled out that arrow stuck in his heart and, with a split heart, threw a brilliant sword at Dama. Dama discharged a śakti arrow at that falling sword and immediately cut Mahānanda’s head with a vetasapatra arrow. After Mahānanda was slain, many kings turned away from the yuddha. Vapuṣmān, the King of Kuṇḍina, alone stood firm. The son of the southern mahīpāla, intoxicated with pride in his strength, began to fight with Dama. In the raṇa-raṅga, Dama immediately cut the sword of the fighting Vapuṣmān, the head of his sārathi, and his dhvaja.

After his sword was cut, Vapuṣmān took a gadā covered with many thorns, but even before he could throw it, Dama cut it while it was in his hand. Again, while Vapuṣmān was about to take a great astra, Dama cut it with arrows and threw him to the earth. The rājaputra Vapuṣmān, having fallen on the earth with distressed limbs and a trembling body, abandoned the hope for yuddha. The noble-minded Dama, seeing his condition, left him. With a pleased mind, Dama took Sumana and departed. Afterward, the King of Daśārṇa was pleased and performed the vivāha of Dama and Sumana according to vidhi.

Marriage and Return

Dama, having been married, stayed in Daśārṇa for some time and then went to his home along with his wife. The King of Daśārṇa gave many gifts of elephants, horses, rathas, cows, donkeys, camels, dāsas and dāsīs, and sent him off with many invaluable things like clothes, ornaments, bows and arrows, and pots filled with wealth and gems.

Upon returning, Dama performed praṇāma to the feet of his father and mother, and Sumana also performed praṇāma to her father-in-law and mother-in-law. They in turn blessed and greeted those two. When Dama arrived from the city of the Daśārṇa-adhipati, Nariṣyanta celebrated a mahotsava in the city. The mahīpati Nariṣyanta, hearing of the relationship with the Daśārṇa-īśvara and the victory over many kings through his son, attained extreme happiness. Thereafter, the rājaputra Dama roamed with Sumana in various forest areas, prāsādas, and mountain peaks. After some time, Sumana, the daughter of the Daśārṇa King, conceived.

Coronation and Nariṣyanta’s Retirement

The mahīpati King Nariṣyanta, who had enjoyed all bhogas, seeing his old age, performed the rājyābhiṣeka of Dama. Indrasenā, his wife and a tapasvinī, also went to the forest with her husband. The king began to reside there according to the vānaprastha-vidhāna.

The Murder of Nariṣyanta

One day, Vapuṣmān, the evil-natured son of the southern king Saṃkrandana, came to the forest with a few companions to hunt deer. He saw Nariṣyanta, whose body was covered with dirt and who was a tapasvī, and Indrasenā, his wife whose limbs were emaciated through tapas. Vapuṣmān asked who he was and of what varṇa. Due to being under a mauna-vrata, the king did not give an answer. But Indrasenā told him the entire vṛttānta exactly as it was.

Knowing him to be the father of his enemy Dama, Vapuṣmān said “you are found” and caught his matted hair in anger. While Indrasenā was making cries and weeping with a trembling voice, that evil one pulled the sword from the sheath and declared that he would slay the father of Dama, who had defeated him in yuddha and seized Sumana. He boasted that he was slaying the father of the enemy who had insulted all the rājaputras who came for the maiden, and challenged Dama to come and protect him. Having spoken thus, Vapuṣmān, even as Indrasenā was weeping before him, cut off the head of Nariṣyanta. The groups of munis and other forest-dwellers reproached him. Thereafter, seeing the state of Nariṣyanta, Vapuṣmān went from the forest to his city.

Indrasenā’s Final Message and Agni-Praveśa

After Vapuṣmān departed, Indrasenā sighed deeply and sent the son of a śūdra-tapasvī to her son Dama. She gave him a message, declaring that Dama had been appointed as the lord protecting the four-fold āśramas, yet he was not protecting such tāpasas. She told him that Nariṣyanta was a tapasvī performing tapas, and that even while Dama was the protector, Vapuṣmān had caught his matted hair and slain the lord of the world like one without a protector, though he had committed no offense.

She instructed him to perform such a deed by which there was no loss of dharma, declaring that as a tāpasī, it was not appropriate for her to say more. The father was an old man, a tapasvī, and one who committed no offense, and Dama must reflect on what was kartavya toward whoever slew him thus. She told him to consult with his ministers who were knowers of all śāstras and mahāvīras.

Indrasenā conveyed the words Nariṣyanta had spoken at the time of death: that he was a tapasvī and had no authority in the matter, and that Dama himself must perform the pratikriya. She cited precedents, noting that the father of Vidūratha was slain by Yavaru, that the asura-king Jambha slew all the pannagas residing in pātāla when his father was bitten by serpents, and that Parāśara cast the entire rākṣasa-kula into the fire upon hearing that his father Śakti had been slain by rākṣasas. She declared that even for another to insult one’s lineage, a kṣatriya cannot bear it, and asked what to say of the matter of slaying the father. She told Dama that in her view, his father was not slain nor was there a śastra-āghāta upon him; rather, Dama himself had died in this matter and the śastra-āghāta was upon him alone. Whoever performs śastra-prayoga upon forest-dwellers is a sinner, and Dama, being the king, must destroy the enemy so that all would fear him. The insult had occurred to Dama alone, and she ordered him to perform whatever was kartavya regarding Vapuṣmān along with his servants, caste-men, and relatives.

Having spoken all this to the śūdra tapasvī and giving him permission, the noble-minded Indrasenā embraced her husband’s body and performed agni-praveśa.

Dama’s Grief and Pratijñā

The śūdra tapasvī went to Dama and told him of the husband’s death-vṛttānta and all the orders given by the queen Indrasenā. Upon hearing the death-vṛttānta of his father narrated from beginning to end, King Dama burned with krodha like a fire fueled by havis. Being of a steady nature, while burning with that krodhāgni, he rubbed one hand with another and spoke. He declared that even while a son like him was alive, the cruel one had slain his father like one without a protector, having insulted the lineage. He questioned whether he should be angry or forgive like a eunuch, stating that he had been appointed to subdue the evil ones and protect the śiṣṭas.

He declared that after seeing his father slain, his enemy was still alive, and asked what was the use of speaking much. He made his pratijñā: if he did not perform the tarpaṇa to his father with the blood flowing from the body of Vapuṣmān, he would enter the fire. If he did not perform the udaka-karma and the piṇḍa-pradāna to the pitṛs with Vapuṣmān’s blood and flesh and feed the brāhmaṇas of rākṣasa-kula with his flesh, he would enter the fire. He declared that if the groups of yakṣas, gandharvas, vidyādharas, and siddhas helped the enemy, he would reduce them too to ashes in his krodhāgni. Having slain the southerner who was without śaurya, adhārmika, and reproached, in the saṅgrāma, he would enjoy the entire earth again. If he was incapable of slaying him, he would enter the fire.

He resolved to go with the entire army and slay the evil-minded one who had slain his father, even though his father was a forest-dweller, a practitioner of tapas, old, and spoke words of peace. He declared that he would take the sword and bow, mount the ratha, and approach the enemy-armies, and let all the deva-groups see how he slays Vapuṣmān. Whoever helped the enemy in saṅgrāma, he would destroy their entire kulas. Even if Indra with the thunderbolt, Yama with the rod, Kubera, Varuṇa, or Sūrya tried to protect Vapuṣmān, he would destroy them with sharp arrows. He lamented that even while a son like him was alive, the enemy had slain his father who was of a disciplined mind, sinless, a forest-dweller, eating only fallen fruits, and possessed of maitrī-bhāva toward all beings, and declared that the groups of vultures would be satisfied that day with the enemy’s flesh and blood.

The March to War

Dama, having made this pratijñā, with eyes turned red from krodha, twisted his mustache. Meditating on the father and reproaching fate, he called the purohitas and spoke before all the ministers. He told them that the father had gone to svarga, that they had heard everything the śūdra tapasvī had said, and asked what was kartavya at that time. He recounted the full vṛttānta: that his father was an old man, a vānaprastha practitioner, a tapasvī, and under a mauna-vrata, and that his mother Indrasenā had told Vapuṣmān everything truly. The evil-natured Vapuṣmān had pulled the sword and, catching the matted hair with his left hand, slew the lord of the world like one without a protector. His mother, being a satī and reproaching him as one unfortunate and without wealth, had embraced Nariṣyanta and entered the fire and gone to svarga.

He declared that he would now do as his mother ordered and instructed the ministers to prepare the four-fold army with elephants, horses, rathas, and padātis. He asked how he could desire to live without retributing the father’s enmity, without slaying the father-killer, and without obeying the mother’s order.

The ministers, hearing his words, were distressed with sorrow and became dejected. Following the king’s order, they, along with servants, armies, and vehicles, became ready. Having taken the blessings of the purohitas who were knowers of the three times, Dama hissed like the king of serpents and went toward the southern direction for Vapuṣmān, destroying the sāmanta kings protecting the borders.

The Final Battle with Vapuṣmān

Vapuṣmān, the son of Saṃkrandana, with surprise and an agitated mind, ordered his army to fight upon hearing that Dama had come to his land with his family, attendants, and ministers. He went out of the city and sent a messenger to Dama, calling him a base kṣatriya and declaring that Nariṣyanta along with his wife was waiting for him, and that his sharp arrows, being thirsty for blood, would drink Dama’s blood after splitting his body.

Dama, hearing all these words from the messenger, remembered his previous pratijñā and went quickly while exhaling like a cobra. Challenging Vapuṣmān to war, he said that a true man never praises himself. Thereafter, a fierce yuddha occurred between Dama and Vapuṣmān. Rathers fought with rathers, those mounted on elephants with those mounted on elephants, and horsemen with horsemen. The entire deva-groups, siddhas, gandharvas, and rākṣasa-groups were watching. When Dama was engaged in yuddha with krodha, the entire earth trembled. Neither elephants, nor rathers, nor horsemen could bear his arrows. The terrifying arrows of Dama were being split by the army of Vapuṣmān. Due to the fall of the senāpati, Vapuṣmān’s army tried to flee.

Dama, the subduer of enemies, called out to the duṣṭa, asking where he was going after slaying his father the tapasvī, reminding him that he had slain a father who was without śastra and was a tapasvī, and telling him to stop as a kṣatriya. Vapuṣmān, along with his younger brother, sons, relatives, and friends, turned back and mounted the ratha and began to fight. The sky was covered with arrows released by Vapuṣmān. He created a network of arrows and covered Dama along with the ratha.

Then Dama, out of krodha arising from the slaying of the father, cut their arrows and split their limbs with his arrows. With each arrow, he sent Vapuṣmān’s seven sons, relatives, and friends to the abode of Yama. Then Vapuṣmān, whose sons and relatives were slain, being extremely angry and having only the ratha left, began to fight Dama with arrows equal to cobra-venom. Dama cut all those arrows. With extreme krodha and with the desire to slay each other, they fought fiercely. In time, both mahābalas abandoned their bows broken by arrows and became sword-wielders and played the game of war. Dama, meditating for a moment on the father slain in the forest, caught Vapuṣmān by the hair and threw him on the earth and, pressing his throat with his foot and raising his arms, called upon all devas, men, siddhas, pannagas, and birds to watch as he split the heart of the base kṣatriya Vapuṣmān.

The Fulfillment of the Pratijñā

Having spoken thus, Dama split the heart of Vapuṣmān. He was about to drink his blood, but at that time the devas prevented him. With that blood, he performed the udaka-karmas for his father. Dama performed the piṇḍa-pradāna with the flesh of Vapuṣmān. And he fed the brāhmaṇas born of rākṣasa-kula with his flesh. Thus, being released from the debt of the father, he returned to his kingdom.

In this manner, powerful kings were born in the Sūryavaṃśa. Many others who were wise, śūras, performers of yajña, dhārmikas, and scholars were born. How many veda-vedāṅga-pāragas were born in this lineage cannot be counted. The man who hears the Dama-caritra is released from all sins.

Source: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 130 to 133